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Re: A tricky ID



I think it's odd that most of the field guides don't have a decent 
illustration of a fall Magnolia.  (Did they copy each other's 
illustrations instead of painting from life?)  In addition to the eye-ring 
(without eye-stripe), another key thing that most omit is the disctinctive 
undertail pattern of white and black.  It's the easiest and most 
distinctive field mark to see on Maggies, just like the orange or yellow 
tail flashes are the easiest and most distinctive marks to see on an Am. 
Redstart.

The only field guide I have that illustrates it is Dunn & Garrett's 
Warblers (p. 105).  Even the exellent book Warblers of the Americas by 
Curson, Quinn, and Beadle doesn't show it.

Saw 7 of these beauties yesterday!

> Fall Warbler Fans:
> 
>   Today, while birding with friends on the Chatham County NC migration day
> count, Norm Budnitz and I came across a puzzling warbler, and I thought
> many of our fellow birders, both beginning and experienced, might be
> interested in the source that solved our puzzle.  We were looking slightly
> down into some Willows bordering Jordan Lake and saw the following field
> marks during a brief but clear view of the bird:  a clear gray head and
> back with a distinct eye ring and a clear yellow throat and breast.  The
> head looked very much like a Nashville, but there are several other
> eye-ringed yellow breasted fall warblers. However, our bird also had
> distinct white wing-bars!!  This ruled out Nashville, and Canada, and the
> yellow underparts ruled out most of the rest.  A new third edition Nat.
> Geo. guide was available, but a look through the wing-barred warblers did
> not find a match.  Magnolia was close but the plate shows fall birds with
> an eye line and ear patch.  We remained stumped until I dug deeper into my
> on board library at our next stop.  A glance in Jon Dunn and Kimball
> Garrett's Warblers did find a match, a first fall female Magnolia Warbler.
> When I arrived home I looked through some other guides, and the only other
> accurate portrayal I found of this plumage was on the fall warbler page in
> the old Zimm/Singer Golden Guide.   
>      I highly recomend Dunn and Garrett's thorough book to all warbler
> watchers.  There are as many as 12 different (for Orange-crowned) plummages
> pictured, seven in the case of our Magnolia.  It made our day a ten warbler
> day, and we learned something too!!
> 
> Happy Warblering,
> Mike Schultz
> Durham, NC
> 


--
Charles W. "Will" Cook                w 919-660-7409
cwcook@acpub.duke.edu                 h 919-967-5446
Duke University Botany Dept., Durham, North Carolina
http://www.duke.edu/~cwcook